Okay, Where's The Beef?

[UKstages]

1 minute ago, mking8288 said:

Pizza onboard NCL has gotten better over the past decade but without a wooden burning oven...

 

pizza quality varies widely, depending on ship and venue. la cucina is always pretty good. onda is excellent.  a lot of people don't seem to like the buffet pizza on the prima. i never had it, as i only ate one breakfast in there. i did think the pizza in the getaway buffet was sensational in january and february. that was pretty much it for the buffet.. only their pizza was good.) room service pizza is not very good, any ship, any time... and it usally arrives room temp or cold. i still think they should turn the american diner venues into pizzerias open all day long, from 11 AM to midnight, or even later.

 

i went in to la cucina one night on the getaway just for pizza. it was great. but as i sat  there, i noticed something i had never seen before... they have LED lights in the pizza oven to cast an orange glow and make it look like it's a wood burning oven! it's a nice theatrical touch and  - as i said - i had never noticed before.

[complawyer]

traveling 2some. in over  25 ncl cruises, i have never been denied onion soup and a lettuce wedge. either im just really lucky, or the maitre'd, and the wait staff for breakfast and lunch all recognize that i tip ,always.  it also doesnt hurt to book a suite, where you eat breakfast in moderno, and lunch at cagneys. the wait staff doesnt change dramatically, and the people you have previously tipped may be serving you dinner.

 also forgot to mention, even if there is a shortage of beef, i would imagine moderno (since a brazillian steak house) would have to have the beef, or cease to function. Im sure ncl would never, ever let that happen, and lose the money from the dinners. that being said, however, if you never get to the meats, the salad bar and its many choices can fill you up for days

[PATRLR]

6 hours ago, mking8288 said:

It's unrealistic to expect Michelin star graded cuisine on a cruise with 2,000 to 3,000+ fellow passengers  

I agree we shouldn't expect "Michelin star graded", but there is no reason they can't serve some of the best meals those 2000-3000 passengers have ever had.  Cruise ships used to serve many hundreds of covers in a sitting and the food was always some of the best you'd ever been served.  If a kitchen can serve hundreds, it's a matter of continuing the scale to serve thousands.  It can be done.  Yes, I know the cost is not insignificant and the mass market cruise lines demographic won't want to pay the higher fares - I get it.  My point is, very high quality, some of the best you'd ever had, can be served to 2000-3000+ fellow passengers.

Edited March 12 by PATRLR

[PATRLR]

7 hours ago, itsnotjustme said:

I had the NY Strip three times on our recent sailing on the Spirit. It was quite good all three nights.  Cooked a nice medium rare, it was brown on the outside and pink to red inside.  It was tender, juicy, and flavorful.

This is the complimentary NY Strip on the MDR menus every night we are talking about?  Flavorful?  How could you tell it was flavorful, wasn't it buried under that heavily salted brown sauce?  

Just curious, how recently were you experiencing these steaks?

[dexddd]

17 hours ago, mking8288 said:

I double checked the calendar - today isn't April 1st - fellow CC not joking around, right  🤭 🙄 🤔   NCL gonna to serve turkey burger in The Local and O'Sheehan's instead of beef ??   We recognize that the grass isn't necessary greener on the othe lawn.  

 

My real beef burger last week at Cracker Barrel Country Kitchen/Store was quite good 😁 with steak fries and sweet corn ... what are we cruising for ??  

 

 

 

Where's the beans?

 

Or should it be... Where's the beef...if we are talking about a cruise?

 

ETA, see David beat me to it.

Edited March 12 by dexddd

[DominicAUS]

I had the NY steak a few times in the main dining room, never had sauce on it and was always delicious. Medium/rare and seasoned well. Wasn’t as good as Cagney’s of course but more than passable. 

[ready2cruzagain]

27 minutes ago, DominicAUS said:

I had the NY steak a few times in the main dining room, never had sauce on it and was always delicious. Medium/rare and seasoned well. Wasn’t as good as Cagney’s of course but more than passable. 

 

On the Epic in January, it was tasty but tough as a brick. Not edible. It did have the runny brown gravy or sauce on it.

[FredZiffle]

11 hours ago, itsnotjustme said:

I had the NY Strip three times on our recent sailing on the Spirit. It was quite good all three nights.  Cooked a nice medium rare, it was brown on the outside and pink to red inside.  It was tender, juicy, and flavorful.

 

I will admit on a prior sailing the quality was lower.  Perhaps not quite as bad as "sad, disgusting, tough, gray morass" but far from my pleasant description above.

 

Did you have the strip steak on this sailing?  Or is teh description from a prior sailing?

 

 

Yes, I foolishly ordered the strip in desperation on this sailing even though I had gotten it once on a past sailing.  I will say that this one did have a few (very few) grill marks, unlike the previous one which looked like it had come straight out of the sous vide bath.  Didn't taste any better though.

 

I also noticed that there was never any beef at the carving station in the buffet.  Plenty of pork and some poultry.

[itsnotjustme]

22 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

In Cagney's I have tried asking for a soup or salad instead of an appetizer and been told they will not substitute.  Was told I MUST order an appetizer, main and dessert

Wow.  My wife and I do not eat seafood.  We have been to Cagney's a dozen times and never had an issue.

[Travelling2Some]

2 minutes ago, itsnotjustme said:

Wow.  My wife and I do not eat seafood.  We have been to Cagney's a dozen times and never had an issue.

It seems to depend on the ship.  I guess some restaurant managers are more rigid than others.  I have had no problem sometimes but it is hit or miss.  (And there is no way I'm paying for a suite to get a wedge of lettuce and a bowl of soup as someone else suggested. That would be very poor value for money!)

[itsnotjustme]

15 hours ago, PATRLR said:

Just curious, how recently were you experiencing these steaks?

Yes, the MDR everyday NY Strip.  My cruise on the Spirit, 9 - 21 February 2024.  I guess I am lucky!

 

Also, we did see beef a few times at the buffet carving station.  A steamship roast, and flank steak for sure.  Maybe one more.  

[Anoynmous Phoenix]

Be thankful that is all it is.   We were talking to our next door neighbour who had recently returned from a Mediterranean cruise (not NCL) which was clearly catering for Muslims (& possible Jews) as there were no pork products at all on the ship.

[dexddd]

8 hours ago, Anoynmous Phoenix said:

Be thankful that is all it is.   We were talking to our next door neighbour who had recently returned from a Mediterranean cruise (not NCL) which was clearly catering for Muslims (& possible Jews) as there were no pork products at all on the ship.

Arnold would be pleased.